I've put plenty of holes in my brick home with a non hammer cordless drill and a masonry bit. A non masonry bit won't even make a dent.

And be ruined in the process. Showing where my mind's at, in skimming over the original post it never even occurred to me that he would have attempted to use a standard wood/metal drill bit to put a hole in brick.

I have some nice three dimensional house numbers on a brick column and went ahead and attached them to a painted board and just hung that on some lead molly anchors and screws I set in the mortar. The wood plaque the numbers are attached to gave me flexibility on positioning the anchors without harming the brick.

Well, it's all over but the shouting. The remodel will be 100% complete tonight. The tile has been sealed, the doors are on, the bathroom's finished. My guys are coming by tonight to install the knobs on the doors and that's it.

Spoilered for many images.

Spoiler: show

The far back/right side of the library, with storage cabinet built-ins.

A look at the main library wall, with actual dead trees!

Another blurry pic, capturing the surround sound speakers and the fireplace.

The entertainment center with doors on.

My office/desk

The bathroom with completed tile tub surround

A closeup of the ORB shower head (Oil Rubbed Bronze)

The matching hardware tub faucet (sadly, the drain is a bit different, we're still working out how to replace the old chrome one (mounting bracket won't fit)

A washed out pic of the new sink and faucet, the colors really failed to come through.

The custom vanity (awaiting knobs), you can also see the slate backstop/trim along the floor.

Another shot of the sink/faucet/mirror. Again the walls are washed out, but you can really see the colors in the sink on this one. Also note the "illusion" of the floating "eyeballs" (lightbulbs above). It's a *very* visible phenomenon even in real life.

And there you have it. 7 months from when I began demo (roughly). It all closes out tonight. I can't believe it's taken this long, but I also kind of can't quite believe it's finally over.

Well, it's all over but the shouting. The remodel will be 100% complete tonight. The tile has been sealed, the doors are on, the bathroom's finished. My guys are coming by tonight to install the knobs on the doors and that's it.

Beautiful work. I especially like the combination of tile and wall color in the bathroom, and those bookshelves. Seems like people are afraid to use dark colors in areas like that for whatever reason, but it looks great.

Is it possible to get blades for oscillating saws/multi-tools that can cut through ceramic?

I don't know what your situation is in the UK, but in the US depending on the size of your job it may be an option to rent a bespoke saw if there's enough work. Blade and instructions will be provided, cooling water will be on a no-loss system, and the blade is provided and charge prorated by measured wear.

Just for reference, this is the kind of saw I'm talking about. There doesn't seem to be a standard name for them, both 'oscillating saw' and 'multi-tool' get used.

The job I had in mind (amongst various jobs for such a tool) was cutting out a hole in a tiled splashback or similar to fit a new socket, without needing to remove and refit or replace the affected tiles. I'd probably drill out the corners first, which is straightforward.

The job I had in mind (amongst various jobs for such a tool) was cutting out a hole in a tiled splashback or similar to fit a new socket, without needing to remove and refit or replace the affected tiles. I'd probably drill out the corners first, which is straightforward.

There's more than one way to skin a cat, but for a nearly identical task in a bathroom I used an angle grinder with a masonry blade to start the hole, and a carbide-grit reciprocating-saw blade to finish out the corners. Dusty work, but it worked like a charm.

Gah, B&Q are having a 'till they're gone' sale on 36V cordless Ryobi garden tools, and I have no money right now My mum wants to buy a new lawnmower and *might* stump up for that (plus a battery too, mustn't forget) but otherwise I'll have to sit this one out. Not that I need a chainsaw... I was also a bit reckless and bought an electric nailer/stapler (One+, natch) only to find that the fencing job I got it for won't now happen, if I'm honest and point out I found a good cheap source of fencing that's exactly what they want. I can't wait to use the damn thing! (NB go buy some brad nails and staples, dumbass!)

Recently purchased my first home, and will be moving in soon. In the 1.5 months leading up to that, it seemed like a good idea to start planning for various DIY changes that I noticed during the home inspection. Any advice I can get would be much appreciated, as money will likely be a bit short for the first few months post-Move. It's a fairly small 1-level, single-family home, pressed up against a park area.

1. Gutters: I live in a wooded area pressed up against a nature trail/area, and leaves already are clogging my gutters...and it's not even autumn! The homeowner has agreed to clean them out before leaving, but I'm wondering if some sort of gutter screen, foam-fill, or guard might be a good idea for down the line, especially pre-autumn. I'm on a slight hill so most of the water can go down, and there's a decent creek about 100 feet past the back yard and about 20 feet below. Going to be picking up a decent ladder so I can get into the attic anyway, so if gutter cleaning is the best way I guess I'll be ready for that as well.

2. Attic: A bit small, but easily has enough room for me to store a few chairs, some light boxes, and other objects of size but not weight. Only way up there is a hole in the garage, covered by a panel, via a ladder I will have to buy. Main issues I see with it during inspection are the lack of lighting (though there are two outlets, one at the entrance and the other far away from it) and a few tiny droppings (indication of rat/mouse). Didn't actually see any chewing or creatures, just a few droppings in some insulation, so maybe that can be dealt with on a case by case basis. As for the lighting, I've had suggestions that range from motion-sensing floodlights to LED strings hooked up to a wire-switch at the entrance.

3. Light: Yeah, I'm just going to replace as many bulbs with CFLs and LEDs, I'm thinking. There's a Home Depot nearby, and much as I hate to do it I can just buy a few different Lumens in Daylight-color and see what works...then return whatever doesn't. Seeing as there's no Gas, being able to cut my electric bill a bit from the get-go seems worth a few hundred dollars.

4. There's no Gas! The home, built in 1973, is all electric. No fireplace, either. Luckily I have one of these in my car, but I wonder if picking up some sort of generator or something might be a good idea, especially once winter starts to approach and a power outage suddenly becomes much more dangerous than annoying.

5. My fence is a mess. Seriously, let me dig up a few pictures and post them. But this thing is basically just a post and rail fence with some chicken wire stapled to it. The wood is rotting and falling apart, and with the exception of maybe getting cut on the wire if you grab it, provides no stopping power to humans. Even more annoying is that its ability to keep out small animals/rodents is basically nil, since the chicken wire has rusted apart or been bent up all over the place, thus killing its effectiveness. A friend suggested I replace the rotting wood and bent chicken wire for now, and then replace the whole thing a year or two down the line when I save up the money for it.

6. The deck is...salvageable. Once again, give me a few minutes to dig up some pictures, but I think this thing just got ignored for a while. My minor experience with home repair tells me that I can fix this by replacing the top railing with either newer wood or vinyl or something, replace the rusted and out-popping nails with fresh ones (or screws), and use a wonderful combo of a powerwasher, oxalic acid, and a decent deck sealant to solve that problem. It sounds a bit too easy, so I thought getting a thumbs up or down might be a good idea first, just in case...

Here's the deck and the fence. Like I said, I think the Deck just needs some TLC and cleaning, and a decent sealant (and some rusted nails to be replaced with non-rusted...something). The Fence on the other hand...that may need quite a bit of surgery, or perhaps to be put down before it falls down.

So I'm trying to put up a new ceiling fan and running into issues. The new fan has a larger mount with rubber feet, the old fan was bolted into the two threaded rods you can see in this picture, it feels like they are attached to the box, they won't unscrew. And those are the two mounting spots that I need. The two holes on either side don't seem to have anything behind them so I can't just use the long ass screws that came with the new fan.

Additionally because of the rubber mounts on the new bracket the threaded rod isn't long enough for me to just slap nuts on.

First, scrape off that popcorn ceiling. To paraphrase James May, there is a special circle of Hell reserved for the person who invented popcorn ceilings.

As for the fan, are you sure those threaded rods don't come out? Although you say there is a lack of backing for the other two holes, for boxes like that there isn't supposed to be a backing, you just thread the screw into the hole.

If you can't make it work, it looks like that box is just attacked to the stucture with two screws, unscrew them, and replace the box with a new one that matches your mounting hardware.

So I'm trying to put up a new ceiling fan and running into issues. The new fan has a larger mount with rubber feet, the old fan was bolted into the two threaded rods you can see in this picture, it feels like they are attached to the box, they won't unscrew. And those are the two mounting spots that I need. The two holes on either side don't seem to have anything behind them so I can't just use the long ass screws that came with the new fan.

Additionally because of the rubber mounts on the new bracket the threaded rod isn't long enough for me to just slap nuts on.

Any ideas?

This is not a box appropriate for ceiling fans. It's a box designed to suspend a ceiling light of no more than 35lbs and no rotational torque. A ceiling fan box has reinforced, #10 female-threaded bosses instead of the standalone male threads seen here. Yes, they are permanently-attached, but that "permanent" is probably only a minute spot weld on the back of the box as the threaded rod has only a flat, non-screwable head designed to resist only gravitational pull. An unbalanced ceiling fan will defeat such an arrangement in ten minutes of use. To your advantage, it looks like the existing box is screwed into a joist through the bottom. That means, when you replace the box with one appropriately ceiling fan-rated (that's a hint), you can just switch to #12 woodscrews and get a good strong bite in the same holes as long as you squeeze some wood glue into the holes first. And your ceiling fan should by definition have a mount that fits the exact same boss spacing; if it doesn't, you need an adapter as that spacing is industry-standard.

Edit: further, it looks like the box (red wire) is wired for a 3-way switch - that might be a consideration depending on how you want the new fan wired, if it has lighting, and what you want to control from where.

Second edit: Emk, the box was in place before the popcorn was shot onto the ceiling (those threaded posts come with the box); using the threads is what cleaned them.

Edit: further, it looks like the box (red wire) is wired for a 3-way switch

There are two switches, one for fan (black) and the other for lights (red).

And you can't see in the picture but now going back to look the tops of those threaded rods in the box look square.

OK. The majority of new fans are wired to take advantage of that if you wish, but could also allow you to wire for one power supply and let the fan make the choice with a remote control. Some will only have one power input, expecting you to use a remote, and that could get complicated if you don't want to use a remote. Keep that in mind when you shop for a fan. And the flat heads are precisely what I expected; that's a lamp box, not a fan box. A true fan box should have the bosses directly welded to the box; there will be no "head" on the outside of the box. If there is, expect that head to be welded entirely around its' circumference.

So I'm trying to put up a new ceiling fan and running into issues. The new fan has a larger mount with rubber feet, the old fan was bolted into the two threaded rods you can see in this picture, it feels like they are attached to the box, they won't unscrew. And those are the two mounting spots that I need. The two holes on either side don't seem to have anything behind them so I can't just use the long ass screws that came with the new fan.

Additionally because of the rubber mounts on the new bracket the threaded rod isn't long enough for me to just slap nuts on.

Any ideas?

Spoiler: show

This is not a box appropriate for ceiling fans. It's a box designed to suspend a ceiling light of no more than 35lbs and no rotational torque. A ceiling fan box has reinforced, #10 female-threaded bosses instead of the standalone male threads seen here. Yes, they are permanently-attached, but that "permanent" is probably only a minute spot weld on the back of the box as the threaded rod has only a flat, non-screwable head designed to resist only gravitational pull. An unbalanced ceiling fan will defeat such an arrangement in ten minutes of use. To your advantage, it looks like the existing box is screwed into a joist through the bottom. That means, when you replace the box with one appropriately ceiling fan-rated (that's a hint), you can just switch to #12 woodscrews and get a good strong bite in the same holes as long as you squeeze some wood glue into the holes first. And your ceiling fan should by definition have a mount that fits the exact same boss spacing; if it doesn't, you need an adapter as that spacing is industry-standard.

Edit: further, it looks like the box (red wire) is wired for a 3-way switch - that might be a consideration depending on how you want the new fan wired, if it has lighting, and what you want to control from where.

Second edit: Emk, the box was in place before the popcorn was shot onto the ceiling (those threaded posts come with the box); using the threads is what cleaned them.

I'm not sure I agree with Dave here. The two nuts (not screws) at the back of the box look a hell of a lot like the mount on the several fan-rated ceiling boxes I have recently installed. If you remove those two nuts you can probably pull the box out a bit and get a better view of what structure is up inside, and also look at the backside of those threaded studs. There appears to be a sticker on the inside of the box that may also discuss its load rating, if you can scrape the popcorn bits off of it.

I'm not sure I agree with Dave here. The two nuts (not screws) at the back of the box look a hell of a lot like the mount on the several fan-rated ceiling boxes I have recently installed. If you remove those two nuts you can probably pull the box out a bit and get a better view of what structure is up inside, and also look at the backside of those threaded studs. There appears to be a sticker on the inside of the box that may also discuss its load rating, if you can scrape the popcorn bits off of it.

I'm not speaking from the point of view of someone who installs lots of ceiling fans, although I've installed a few. I'm speaking from the point of view of a former Department Supervisor of Electrical at a Home Depot; I've advised hundreds of customers and sold literally thousands of these boxes. A box stiff enough to resist the rotational torque of a ceiling fan has reinforced bosses, like this:

The standard punch-through threaded rod of a fixture box, and the female-threaded "ears" found on ceiling boxes, do not have the structural integrity to resist that rotational torque. They are rated for 35lbs of static vertical load, and nothing more. You'll also find they're #8 threads, whereas a ceiling fan-rated box uses #10.

Speaking of ceiling fans, the one in my bedroom (about 1 1/2 years old now) started making consistent, rhythmic, clicking sounds today. Only happens when set at medium/high speed. Silent at low speed. Does this sound like a balance issue? Should I try tightening the screws on fan blades or something?

Many thanks to those who Private Message'd me about my pile of (apparently over-worried) new homeowner concerns. I'm still not 100% understanding how anything strong enough to clean the mold, mildew, and years-of-crud off my deck won't also kill all the grass under/around it, but I guess a few extra minutes with the hose to dilute the hell out of it after powerwashing it off will help either way.

Also, comparing the thousands I'd spend on gutter guards to just...climbing up a ladder and cleaning it out every few months was a stark contrast. For someone on a tight budget, I have no idea why I even considered the gutter guards in the first place, but I'm glad that virtually every response I got pointed that out.

Many thanks to those who Private Message'd me about my pile of (apparently over-worried) new homeowner concerns. I'm still not 100% understanding how anything strong enough to clean the mold, mildew, and years-of-crud off my deck won't also kill all the grass under/around it, but I guess a few extra minutes with the hose to dilute the hell out of it after powerwashing it off will help either way.

A pressure washer will remove damn near anything from a deck, and I don't expect water will kill all the grass.

Of course, "damn near anything" includes the wood the deck is made of, so proper procedure is indicated.

Many thanks to those who Private Message'd me about my pile of (apparently over-worried) new homeowner concerns. I'm still not 100% understanding how anything strong enough to clean the mold, mildew, and years-of-crud off my deck won't also kill all the grass under/around it, but I guess a few extra minutes with the hose to dilute the hell out of it after powerwashing it off will help either way.

A pressure washer will remove damn near anything from a deck, and I don't expect water will kill all the grass.

Of course, "damn near anything" includes the wood the deck is made of, so proper procedure is indicated.

It will definitely require a light touch, luckily I'll have a few other people there to keep an eye on me...and to make sure the amazing cutting power of water doesn't go to my head.

I was more worried about this Oxalic Acid stuff that people kept telling me to clean the deck/fence with. Google-fu tells me it's handy as anything, but I keep seeing mixed info on just how safe it is on the lawn, house-siding, and non-deck objects. Also, though it goes without saying, human skin and lungs. Luckily my roommate is big into working with fiberglass and resin, so we have plenty of breathing masks and protection.